The Monday Mix (06/12/2021)
Hi friends,
Not much to report this week, so I’ll get straight into what I want to share with you all.
With Bitcoin plunging this week, I thought it would be appropriate to share the piece I wrote a few months ago about the crypto community. I’m very sceptical about cryptocurrencies and feel that most of them are nothing more than glorified Ponzi schemes.
This article looks at another aspect of that community, its cult-like attitude. You’re either for Bitcoin or you’re against it.
Bitcoin Isn’t Dead, But It Is A Cult
The World’s Deadliest Thing
I stumbled across this article by accident but it’s one of the most interesting I’ve read in a long time. I don’t want to spoil what the article is referring to, but it’s an eye-opening look into one of the deadliest substances on the planet and how it’s now used routinely in certain circumstances.
My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I got to the end of this article and I think yours might too!
‘We journalists are the defence line between dictatorship and war’
Journalists have been getting a bad rep since 2016 with the dual shock of Brexit and Trump. I’ve seen writers I follow on Medium rail against journalists and declare how distraught they’d be if their children chose to practice the profession.
This kind of attitude s dangerous and can lead to the erosion of democracy. Reading through his piece, you realise the importance of journalism to democracy, and how they hold those in power to account. The tale of Russia is a vital case study. Since Putin’s rise to power, the independence of the media has been eroded and numerous journalists have died in mysterious circumstances.
When governments start attacking the media and declaring them to be ‘fake news’ we should be very worried indeed.
The Missing Cyrptoqueen
This is one part of an extraordinary story around a woman who scammed thousands of people out of their money via, you guessed it, cryptocurrencies. If there’s one reason not to invest in them, it’s that a lot of them are nothing more than pure scams, where the average investor gets the rug pulled out from underneath them at some point.
If you can, listen to the accompanying podcast as this story is utterly insane and will result in your jaw hitting the floor multiple times!
Book I’m reading - The Art of Statistics - David Spiegelhalter
Maths has never been my strongest subject, so reading this book is a good way of improving my competency in one area of it. Statistics have been important the past few years due to Covid. What this excellent book does is break down how to interpret statistics and what you can learn from them.
Quote I’m pondering: “Though it might be nice to imagine there once was a time when man lived in harmony with nature, it’s not clear that he ever really did.” – Elizabeth Kolbert
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom